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Cheat sheet for Grammar Pet Peeves
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Also from Isis:
Many people confuse "it's" with "its". If you use the rule above that I mentioned for use of apostrophes, you can't go wrong. "It" is not a proper name, it's a pronoun. So if it has an apostophe like this "it's" that is a contraction of "it is". "Its" indicates posession and ownership, like "their", "your", "his" and "her".
Many people confuse "it's" with "its". If you use the rule above that I mentioned for use of apostrophes, you can't go wrong. "It" is not a proper name, it's a pronoun. So if it has an apostophe like this "it's" that is a contraction of "it is". "Its" indicates posession and ownership, like "their", "your", "his" and "her".
And Isis explains another common issue:
In a very similar vein, I see an awful lot of "could of", "should of" and "would of". This is just plain wrong. It arises because in speech when people say "could've" "should've" and "would've" it can sound to the unwitting like "could of" and so on. In fact "could've" and the rest are simply more contractions of two words using apostrophes - and in two separate words they are originally "could have", "should have", and "would have". If you think about it, a sentence won't make sense if you use "could of", "should of" or "would of".
In a very similar vein, I see an awful lot of "could of", "should of" and "would of". This is just plain wrong. It arises because in speech when people say "could've" "should've" and "would've" it can sound to the unwitting like "could of" and so on. In fact "could've" and the rest are simply more contractions of two words using apostrophes - and in two separate words they are originally "could have", "should have", and "would have". If you think about it, a sentence won't make sense if you use "could of", "should of" or "would of".
From Dawn (trimmed by me just a bit):
Your is of or relating to yourself, or possession of. "The table is to your left", "Is this your book". You can see how 'you are' could not work in these examples.
You're is a contraction of personal pronoun 'you' and 'are'. It is used like she's, it's, we're and so forth. "You're (you are) coming to the dinner tonight?" "If you're going, I will too."
To combine the two. "You're on your way."
Your is of or relating to yourself, or possession of. "The table is to your left", "Is this your book". You can see how 'you are' could not work in these examples.
You're is a contraction of personal pronoun 'you' and 'are'. It is used like she's, it's, we're and so forth. "You're (you are) coming to the dinner tonight?" "If you're going, I will too."
To combine the two. "You're on your way."
Their - indicating ownership by multiple people, as in ; "Their house" or "Their day was ruined."
They're - whenever you've got an apostrophe and it's not a proper name, it means the word has been contracted from two other words, in this case "they are", as in; "They are going to the park" or "They are tired."
(Thanks Isis!)
An example to help you remember, from Elizabeth (Alaska):
They're going over there with their picnic basket.
[They are] going over [place] with [possessive/ownership] picnic basket.